News

03/14/2017

TEGAN MARIE JOINED SWEETY HIGH’S SXSW 2017 PANEL, “GEN Z: THE NEW POWER BROKERS,” LIGHTING UP THE INTERNET ON SUNDAY (3/12)

13-year-old country vocalist Tegan Marie attended SXSW 2017 in Austin, TX, this past weekend to participate in Sweety High’s panel, “GEN Z: The New Power Brokers” on Sunday (3/12). The leading girls’ online media platform commanded one of the largest collective audiences at the annual festival with a live streaming audience of 120,000, reaching over 750,000 in less than an hour. Moderated by Sweety High founder and CCO Veronica Zelle, the panel included five young ladies who are all under the age of 20 with a combined online fanbase of 35 million: Marie, singer/dancer Mackenzie Ziegler (“Dance Moms”), actress Skai Jackson (Disney’s “Bunk’d”), entrepreneur/fashion designer Alexandra Chang (The Zeitgeist) and aspiring astronaut Abigail Harrison (AKA Astronaut Abby).

The panel provided thought-leadership on the qualities, values and consumer spending habits of a generation (roughly 4-20 years old) that is predicted to be 40% of the U.S. consumers by 2020. Gen Z currently accounts for a quarter of the U.S. population, or close to 67 million kids, and makes up the largest most tech-savvy generation in history with over $600 billion in direct and influenced spending annually.

“They carry tremendous spending power to influence almost everything,” Zelle said. “If you’re not culturally relevant enough to make it into her social feed, you will not be able to have a relationship with her [the Gen Z girl].”

The mass live audience, largely tuned in through Musical.ly's live stream platform Lively.TV, combined with the standing room audience, showcased the powerful reach that top Gen Z influencers command.

WATCH a highlight video from “GEN Z: THE NEW POWER BROKERS” panel HERE.

ABOUT TEGAN MARIE:

With a larger-than-life voice, 13-year-old country sensation Tegan Marie honored Smokey Robinson, the 2016 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, with a lively performance of “My Guy” on PBS’ star-studded special February 10. A native of Flint, MI, the burgeoning singer-songwriter released her catchy single, “Lucky Me,” last spring with 100% of the proceeds going to children directly affected by the water crisis in her hometown. She stunned listeners last summer when she released her breathtaking rendition of Florida Georgia Line’s #1 smash hit “H.O.L.Y.,” which garnered 17 million plus views on Facebook and led to high-profile media looks including her national morning TV debut on ABC’s Good Morning America and US Weekly's “Buzzzz-o-Meter” feature. She also caught the attention of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team who invited her to perform the national anthem at their last home game prior to the Olympics. After debuting on the Radio Disney Country stage at the CMA Music Festival in June, Tegan has played shows with country stars Hunter Hayes, Thomas Rhett, Cam and Chris Stapleton.

Discovered by girl platform Sweety High, Tegan first shared her videos on their site when she was only 7 years old. Her sweet, clean vocals and sensitive interpretations now have girls (and moms) across the nation clamoring for more. In their words, she is “your new obsession.”

ABOUT SWEETY HIGH:

Sweety High is a vertically integrated media company and the one-stop-shop for the Gen Z Girl. As a highly engaged platform (with a reach of over 4 million), Sweety High integrates across site, mobile app and social channels to help drive the cultural conversations they want to engage in. Sweety High is also partnered with Radio Disney as the entertainment content solution for the Gen-Z girl.